47% False Arrest Rate? The Hidden Science of Field Sobriety Tests | Beyond The Breathalyzer

Описание: In Episode Four of Beyond the Breathalyzer, Shelley Behan takes a deep dive into the science — and the shifting standards — behind Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs).

Every day in courtrooms across the country, judges and juries hear that these tests are “validated,” “standardized,” and “accurate.” But what do those words actually mean? And do the original government studies support the claims prosecutors make in court?

In this episode, we examine:

The original 1977 Southern California Research Institute study

The 1981 field study and its 32% false arrest rate

The Colorado, Florida, and San Diego validation studies

How prevalence and weighting bias changed reported “accuracy”

False positive and false classification rates under the legal limit

What sensitivity, specificity, reliability, and validity actually mean

Why correlation is not causation

And how certainty can be manufactured through statistical framing

At one point, the three-test battery used today showed a 47% false arrest rate.

The question isn’t whether the studies exist.
The question is whether they actually demonstrate what the government claims they demonstrate.

Field sobriety tests were designed to predict a BAC threshold — not to measure roadside impairment. Yet courts routinely allow them in without the scientific rigor applied to other forensic disciplines.

The danger isn’t that the tests are imperfect.
The danger is that courts pretend they are not.

📌 Next episode: The DRE Program

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